Press Releases
TERMINALFOUR finds that Official Languages Act is not a priority for 58% of Public Bodies
Date Released: Fri, 14 Jul 2006 00:00:00 ISTComparison with Wales shows Ireland in an unfavourable light
TERMINALFOUR, the enterprise content management specialist, today, revealed that as many as fifty-eight percent of Irish organisations are failing to provide information in the Irish language via their website, in line with the Official Languages Act, 2003. The final provisions of the Official Languages Act come into effect, today, 14th July, on the third anniversary of its signing into law by the president.
An independent survey carried out by PAN Research, on behalf of TERMINALFOUR, found that a large proportion of Irish bodies surveyed are not complying with the Act, which places a statutory obligation on public bodies to provide specified services coherently through Irish. At present, 650 bodies come under the remit of the act. Fifty Irish sites and a smaller number of Welsh sites were analysed for comparison purposes. Of the sites surveyed, some provided information in a host of other languages, excluding Irish.
Websites were assessed for the level of translation throughout their pages and online publications. Sites surveyed included state bodies, government departments and universities. The Welsh Language Act, 1993, is a set of guidelines for the recommended use of the Welsh language in public bodies across Wales. It does not place any obligation on organisations to utilise the language on their websites. In spite of this, Welsh websites were found to display greater levels of their native language than their Irish equivalents, with sixty percent of Welsh bodies compared to forty per cent of Irish organisations using more than one language.
The results of the survey were announced at the official launch of the new, fully bilingual website of the North East Wales Institute of Higher Education in Wrexham, which was provided by TERMINALFOUR. This website offers full accessibility to services for students, staff and members of the public who wish to use the Welsh language.
In Ireland, although the official languages act suggests that all state bodies should have plans in place relating to the provision of services through Irish, it allows for varying degrees of translations of websites.
Piero Tintori, managing director of TERMINALFOUR said, "Ireland and Wales face similar challenges in the provision of services and publications in bilingual populations. We have helped a host of Irish and Welsh organisations to publish their websites in multiple languages, ensuring that they comply with accessibility standards. Where organisations don't have language provisions in place, it is often because budgets simply won't support the additional costs of translation."
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About TERMINALFOUR
TERMINALFOUR is a leading developer of 'out-of-the-box' enterprise content management software. Its systems enable medium and large sized organisations to improve the delivery and communication of information through various channels including websites, personalised portals, intranets, extranets and emerging media. It is the number one supplier to third level education institutions in the UK and to public sector in Ireland. Customers include IDA Ireland, Shannon Development, the department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, University of Manchester, University of Portsmouth, Tesco and Pearson Education. TERMINALFOUR recently achieved its fourth successive appearance in the Technology Fast 50, with average revenue growth of 493% over five years. More information on TERMINALFOUR is available at www.terminalfour.com
About PAN Research
PAN Research is a specialist mystery shopping and website usability company. Since 1996 our commitment to clients is to improve their business by providing objective and actionable information on the experiences of typical customers who come into contact with their business. A wholly Irish owned company, PAN has grown to become one of the market leaders in mystery shopping. We offer over 15 years of mystery shopping, marketing implementation and business development experience.